accession number

noun

1. the individual number or serial designation identifying specifically any of the items, as books or records, acquired by a library, collection, or the like.

accession number

noun

1. library science the number given to record a new addition to a collection

Word History and Origins

Origin of accession number¹

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Example Sentences

The researchers found the fossils at GSI headquarters in Kolkata, amid other vast vertebrate collections and without an accession number.

From Science Magazine

The specimen, determined to be 1.6 million years old, was given the accession number KNM-WT-15000, but it is better known as Turkana Boy.

From New York Times

“Fortunately for both posterity and accuracy, some detail-obsessed Soviet bureaucrat scribbled the accession number of the district financial department on the verso of the portrait of an elegant lady with a suprematist bag,” said Vasiliev, adding that Dzhagupova, “a gifted and prodigious artist”, was proud of the portrait.

From The Guardian

Taxon names indicate: genotype or subgenotype, GenBank accession number, age, abbreviation of country of sequence origin, region of sequence origin, host species and optional additional remarks.

From Nature

Unlike famous codices that have their own names, like the Codex Sinaiticus, this one is known humbly as M.910, its accession number at the library.

From Seattle Times